UPDATE:NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT ISSUES THIRD OMNIBUS ORDER REGARDING COURT OPERATIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY: On March 27, 2020 and April 29, 2020, we wrote about the New Jersey Supreme Court's Omnibus Order and Second Omnibus Order relating to court functions and operations during the COVID-19 public health crisis/state of eme...

On March 27, 2020 and April 29, 2020, we wrote about the New Jersey Supreme Court's Omnibus Order and Second Omnibus Order affecting court functions and operations during the COVID-19 state of emergency.Under those orders, most filing deadlines, discovery deadlines and statutes of limitations that would have expired on or after March 16, 2020 were ...

On May 13, 2020 Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order No. 142 as part of the state's effort to gradually and strategically reopen its economy. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 142, all "non-essential" construction projects are permitted to resume Monday, May 18 at 6:00 am. Governor Murphy's Executive Order No. 122, issued April 8, 2020, allowe...

On February 19, 2020, the Small Business Reorganization Act (the "SBRA") became effective. The SBRA created a new subchapter to the bankruptcy code, which is commonly referred to as Subchapter V. The purpose of Subchapter V filing is to reduce the cost and expense of small business bankruptcy reorganization compared to traditional Chapter 11 reorga...

On March 27, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an Omnibus Order relating to court functions and operations during the COVID-19 state of emergency.Under that order, most filing deadlines, discovery deadlines and statutes of limitations that would have expired on or after March 16, 2020 were tolled until April 27, 2020.On April 24, 2020, the ...

On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order 130. t permits any governing body of a municipality to adopt a resolution instituting a grace period for the payment of second-quarter property taxes to no later than June 1, 2020.This is not an automatic extension of the May 1 st payment due date to June 1st. It only allows a...

The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control has extended the time to renew liquor licenses until September 30, 2020. You can review a complete copy of the order here . https://www.nj.gov/oag/abc/downloads/Order-extending-2019-20-municipal-and-state-liquor-licenses-and-permits-to-Sept-30-2020.pdf File Name: NJ-Div-of-ABC-Order File Size: 1...

UPDATE REGARDING EXTENSION OF PROPERTY TAX APPEAL DEADLINES: On April 21, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court clarified its prior orders extending filing deadlines for 2020 property tax appeals to confirm the extension of filing deadlines applies to appeals where municipalities are subject to a revaluation or reassessment.The filing deadlines are no...

On April 24, 2020, the Atlantic County Board of Taxation released a statement concerning when it will hear property tax appeals that are filed before the COVID-19 state of emergency ends. Specifically, all tax appeals filed before the state of emergency ends will be scheduled for a Board hearing within 30 days of the end of the emergency . So, if t...

During the COVID-19 crisis, the State of New Jersey has focused its recent public contracts on directing resources to deal with this emergency (see the link below to New Jersey Department of Public Affairs' Local Finance Notice 2020-06). Nonetheless, public contracts for roads, bridges and other infrastructure must still be performed.The law firm o...

Department of Community Affairs has issued guidance on Executive Order 122 which restricts construction projects in New Jersey. We have been guiding our clients which fall within the exceptions, adhering to the social distancing requirements. On April 8, 2020, Governor Murphy signed Executive Order (EO) 122, which, in part, ceases the physical oper...

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs has issued guidelines for planning and zoning boards to conduct online hearings during the national and state emergencies - using platforms such as Zoom and GoToMeeting. Our firm is working with several land use boards throughout the state to schedule such virtual meetings while adhering to all legal r...

In the face of government closures, the Department of Community Affairs has issued guidance to construction officials across the state to continue to accept and process construction permit applications. You can review the guidance here: https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/alerts/pdfs/COVID_memo.pdf If you require assistance in processing your pe...

On March 27, 2020, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued an Omnibus Order addressing ongoing COVID-19 measures relating to court functions for all divisions of the court, as well as deadlines for discovery and court filings and statutes of limitations deadlines. With respect to developers, the important takeaway is that the 45-day statute of li...

The U.S. Small Business Administration (the "SBA") is providing assistance to small businesses affected as a result of COVID-19.Pursuant to the SBA Disaster Declaration # 16349; NEW JERSEY Disaster Number NJ-00057 Declaration of Economic Injury, issued on March 18, 2020, the Economic Injury Disaster Loans ("EIDL") program was made available to smal...

THIS IS THE TIME TO HAVE YOUR BASIC LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN PLACE In these unprecedented and trying times resulting from the Coronavirus outbreak, fear and worry have understandably consumed much of the population.Now is a good time to think about the need to have certain basic legal documents in place, such as a Last Will & Testament, Living Will a...

In these unprecedented and challenging times brought about by the Coronavirus and the governmental response thereto, there is a specific contract term that exists in many contracts which most people consider to be just "boiler plate". It is known as the " Force Majeure " clause, and it seldom comes into play.It generally identifies occurrences that...

From the North Wildwood Planning Board Secretary: New North Wildwood Land Development Zoning Ordinance adopted on December 26, 2018 now permits duplexes on a minimum/existing 5,000 sq. ft. lots AS A CONDITIONAL USE (i.e. meaning site plan approval is required by the Planning Board). Site plan application must meet conditions as specified in Chap. 2...

On July 3, 2018, the Borough of Stone Harbor introduced an ordinance to relax the building requirements for swimming pools within the rear yard setback area to the bulkhead line on bayfront lots. Currently there is no standard for pools and the general 10 foot setback applies. That is being reduced to 5 feet, limited in height to 8.7 feet NAVD 88 p...

The New Jersey Public Recreational Bathing Facility Code, N.J.A.C. 8:26-1.1 et seq. ("the Code") was recently amended in ways that will impact community associations ( e.g. , condominium and homeowners' associations) having at least three dwelling units. These changes to the Code range from minor housekeeping matters to more significant operational...

The NJ Department of Community Affairs has reclassified roofing or siding jobs on one and two-family dwellings as minor work and ordinary maintenance, and now includes them on its list of home improvement jobs that no longer are subject to inspection. As such, it is no longer necessary to secure a construction permit to perform the work. The new ru...

This article in the Inquirer explains how the new tax law will negatively impact investment in affordable housing projects throughout the country. Tax credits allowed those in high tax brackets to reduce their tax obligations if they invested in low income housing developments. But with corporate tax rates being reduced, the incentive for affordabl...

FILING A PROPERTY TAX APPEAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER UNDER THE NEW FEDERAL TAX LAWS. We now have new federal tax laws for 2018. Perhaps the most significant impact on New Jersey will be the $10,000.00 cap on the deduction for state income and property taxes. Until now, New Jersey residents were able to deduct 100% of their state income and prop...

On January 15, during his last day in office, Gov. Chris Christie signed into law Assembly Bill 1425/Senate Bill 3233, which implements major reforms to the requirements for the posting of performance and maintenance guarantees under the Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL), N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq. The new law is effective immediately. Municipalities ar...